HTC takes on Ray-Ban Meta with Vive Eagle smart glasses

HTC is taking aim at the booming smart eyewear market, and Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta line in particular, with the launch of its new Vive Eagle AI-powered glasses.

Announced today in Taiwan, the lightweight wearable blends voice assistance, smart photography, and real-time translation in a fashion-first frame, marking a fresh push from the company best known for VR headsets.

The VIVE Eagle is HTC’s vision of “intelligent living,” according to Charles Huang, the firm’s Senior Vice President. Weighing just under 49g, the glasses hide their tech inside minimalist, everyday-friendly frames.

Adjustable nose pads, ergonomic temples, and Zeiss sun lenses keep them practical, while the open-ear speaker design delivers private, spatial audio without blocking environmental sound – a key safety feature for outdoor use.

At the heart of the Vive Eagle is Vive AI, HTC’s voice assistant, which works with platforms like OpenAI’s GPT and Google Gemini.

The glasses feature a 12MP ultra-wide camera for hands-free, first-person photography and videography, triggered simply by saying “Hey Vive, take a photo.”

AI also powers real-time translation in 13 languages, turning text captured by the camera into spoken translations without touching a phone.

HTC has also packed in note-taking, reminders, restaurant recommendations, and music playback. A 235mAh battery promises up to 36 hours of standby or around 4.5 hours of music playback, with fast charging that delivers 50-percent battery in 10 minutes.

Pass-through charging means you can power the glasses from your phone or a power bank on the move.

Privacy has been a big talking point for HTC. All user data is stored locally, never uploaded or used for AI training, and secured with AES-256 encryption. A visible LED indicates when the camera is recording, and capture stops automatically if the glasses are removed or the LED is blocked.

The Vive Eagle launches first in Taiwan in partnership with Taiwan Mobile and premium eyewear retailer 2020EYEhaus. It’s priced at NT$15,600 (approx. US$530 / £410) and comes in four colours – Berry, Coffee, Grey, and Black. You get a case and two years of Vive AI Plus included.

Pre-orders are open from today until August 31, with sales starting September 1 through bundles and select retail stores.

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Spencer Hart Buying Guide Editor

About

As Buying Guide Editor, Spencer is responsible for all e-commerce content on Stuff, overseeing buying guides as well as covering deals and new product launches. Spencer has been writing about consumer tech for over eight years. He has worked on some of the biggest publications in the UK, where he covered everything from the emergence of smartwatches to the arrival of self-driving cars. During this time, Spencer has become a seasoned traveller, racking up air miles while travelling around the world reviewing cars, attending product launches, and covering every trade show known to man, from Baselworld and Geneva Motor Show to CES and MWC. While tech remains one of his biggest passions, Spencer also enjoys getting hands-on with the latest luxury watches, trying out new grooming kit, and road-testing all kinds of vehicles, from electric scooters to supercars.

Areas of expertise

Watches, travel, grooming, transport, tech